Abner Snopes In William Faulkner's Barn Burning

William Faulkner elected to write “Barn Burning” from his young character Sarty’s perspective because his sense of morality and decency would present a more plausible conflict in this story. Abner Snopes inability to feel the level of remorse needed to generate a truly moral predicament in this story, sheds light on Sarty’s efforts to overcome the constant “pull of blood”(277) that forces him to remain loyal to his father. As a result, this reveals the hidden contempt and fear Sarty has developed over the years because of Abner’s behavior. Sarty’s struggle to maintain an understanding of morality while clinging to the fading idolization of a father he fears, sets the tone

There are many consequences to bad choices in life. Abner Snopes makes many decisions that hurt him, his family, and whoever may have tried to do him wrong. He is jealous of the families that he sharecrops for, and is angry for not being able to be like them “Faulkner’s story tells of the emotional distancing of young Satoris “Sarty” Snopes from his father when he realizes the toll that his father’s penchant for burning the barns of wealthy landowners has on its victims” ( Krstovic 30). Society has basically told him he is lower class due to his resentments of “ Abner’s rootless-ness, his continual wandering from place to place, and his contempt for tradition and order” (Stein 732). His thoughts of them being superior to him bring out feelings of rage and inferiority. As Abner is angry about being accused of burning down a barn, being driven from the last town they lived in, and having total disdain for his new land owner, he chooses to take that anger out on the de Spain family by burning down their barn. Abner’s choice to have no regard for others, gives him bestial like qualities which is evident when he “steps in fresh [horse] droppings” (Faulkner 1960).

The setting of this story is very important because it gives you a sense of what life was like back during the late 1800s. “Barn Burning” takes place in the south after the civil war. After the civil war, the south was in the period of reconstruction. A lot of the south was destroyed from the war, and it affected everyone in the south from their economy, to their personal lives. Many people lived impoverished like the Snopes family. Abner Snopes holds a lot of resentment because he couldn’t be successful in his life. Instead of changing his life and working hard, he resents everything and everyone around him. This attitude eventually leads to his downfall.

William Faulkner's short story "Barn Burning" describes a typical relationship between wealthy people and poor people during the Civil War. The main character, Abner Snopes, sharecrops to make a living for his family. He despises wealthy people. Out of resentment for wealthy people, he goes and burns their barns to get revenge. Abner's character over the course of the story is unchanging in that he is cold hearted, lawless, and violent.<br><br>First, Abner's unchanging character shows his cold heartedness. After being sentenced to leave the country for burning a man's barn, he shows no emotions to his family. During the story, there was not a time when he apologized or offered a word of encouragement to them. His tone of voice when talking

If we compare William Faulkner's two short stories, 'A Rose for Emily' and 'Barn Burning', he structures the plots of these two stories differently. However, both of the stories note the effect of a father¡¦s teaching, and in both the protagonists Miss Emily and Sarty make their own decisions about their lives. The stories present major idea through symbolism that includes strong metaphorical meaning. Both stories affect my thinking of life.

In William Faulkner’s short stories “A Rose for Emily” and “Barn Burning” the characters are both guilty of committing terrible crimes. However, Miss Emily in “A Rose for Emily” and Abner Snopes in “Barn Burning” are both portrayed very differently from each other. A few things to consider while reading these short stories is how each of these characters is characterized, how the author generates sympathy for these characters, and the order in which the events in these stories occur.

The story by Abani is set in an African background. It may be unfair to render the people as backward automatically, but their decision to act arbitrarily and against the wishes of the elders speaks of weakness regarding civility. Like the villagers in Jackson’s story, the bloodthirsty mob carries out an illogical and crude act with no regard for the life of the man they perceive to be a thief in the hope that the children will learn a valuable lesson.

The main character, Abner Snopes, sharecrops to make a living for his family. He despises wealthy people. Out of resentment for wealthy people, he burns their barns to get revenge. Abner’s character over the course of the story is unchanging in that he is cold hearted, lawless, and violent.

Abner doesn’t want to get caught so he forces Sarty to lie for him and to make sure he won’t go against the family. “You’re getting to be a man. You got to learn. You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain’t going to have any blood to stick to you. Do you think either of them, any man there this morning, would? Don’t you know all they wanted was a chance to get at me because they knew I had them beat? Eh?” (p420) Abner wants Sarty to stay with the family and to not go against his family because he knows that if Sarty decides to tell the truth of what he did about burning the barns, Abner would go to jail or something worse. Abner takes pride in himself and is very satisfied with the fact that he hasn't gotten caught

The theme of William Faulkner's Barn Burning is Colonel Sartoris Snope's desire to break away from the oppressive conditions of his family life. He is pulled between his family and his morality. In this essay, I will discuss Sarty's struggle between the two sides of his conflict and the point at which it becomes resolved.

William Faulkner's "Barn Burning" provides an excellent example of how conflicting loyalties can affect decisions. In Faulkner's story, the main character, Sarty, faces such a dilemma. On one hand, Sarty has the morals that society has instilled in him in spite of his father. One the other hand, Sarty has the loyalty to his father because of the blood ties shared between them and the fact that his father raised and provided for him. Ultimately, it is these conflicting ideas that will lead to Sarty's final decision.

The story "Barn Burning" by William Faulkner discusses the inner conflict within Sartoris Snopes, a young boy who faced a dilemma. He tries to make a decision of choosing between to lieing in the court under his father's pressiure who does not want to get into the jail and acting against his father by telling the truth. The main character is influenced by Abner, his father, who tells him, "You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain't going to have any blood to stick to you." ( P 496). I think this quote reflects the main issue of the

Loyalty is a powerful force. Oftentimes it blindsides us and causes us to support things we would not normally. Even do things that we despise. William Faulkner’s Barn Burning illustrates just such a case. Presenting a young boy’s progression from a loyal child, to an independent man as a conflict of loyalty and morals. This boy, Sarty, battles his own forming morals versus his father’s decisions, which leads to his development from child to adult. Faulkner writes his characters progression in five stages: blind loyalty, repressed disagreements, open questioning, and attempted reasoning with his father, before finally taking action to contradict his father.

Every person reaches a point in their lives when they must define themselves in relation to their parents. We all come through this experience differently, depending on our parents and the situation that we are in. For some people the experience comes very early in their lives, and can be a significant life changing experience. In William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” Colonel Sartoris Snopes must decide either to stand with his father and compromise his integrity, or embrace honesty and morality and condemn his family. This is a difficult decision to make, especially for a ten year old boy that has nothing outside of what his father provides. Sarty’s decision to ultimately betray his father is dependent on his observation of Abner’s character

The saying, “blood is thicker than water” is a term used to imply that family relationships are always more important than friends. However, at times it may be hard to choose between family and friends based on right and wrong. In the short story, Barn Burning, written by “William Faulkner, a Nobel Prize winning novelist of the American South”(“William Faulkner”), choosing between family and doing what is right for honor and justice is highly expressed. The main character, Colonel Sartoris Snopes, nicknamed Sarty, battles his thoughts of doing what is right or wrong throughout the story. After following the orders of his father for ten years, Sarty eventually decides to make his own choice and go against the pull of blood.